Hey! Three comics in one week! It’s been a while since something like that happened! Maybe there was something good to come out of my computer problems after all!

About that – my computer problems – I’m still having them. In fact, be sure to hit the little “BACK” link and check out the comic I posted Thursday and read the blog post that describes them. Originally it was my plan to post a special Fourth of July comic using my day off to accomplish the task, but I posted it late because of… well, computer problems.

Today’s comic was based around my reaction to the redesigned robots of Transfomers when my opinion of them was less favorable. I’ve since eased back from my position, mostly because I’ve bought into the hype. But you can’t deny that when those first images of the movie version of Megatron started showing up on the internet, people had a hard time making heads or tails of it.

I’m not of the opinion that Megatron needs to retain the aluminum mullet look from the original cartoon show. There have been probably a half-dozen iterations of the Transformers franchise in cartoon shows over the years and Megatron has been everything from a tank to a Tyrannasaurus Rex. Altering the look of the Transformers to suit their environment isn’t the problem. In fact, that’s the whole point – they’re robots in disguise!

But take a look at this guy and tell me he doesn’t look like his designer had a conniption fit while illustrating him. Shards of twisted metal? What the hell is he?

As I said before, I’ve softened on my opinion of the designs. This is mostly due to the overwhelming positive response given to my by friends who have already seen the movie. They’re convinced that Transformers does something no Hollywood picture has done in a while – and that’s show us something new that astonishes us. I’m down for that and I’m really looking forward to seeing the movie tonight. I’ve even got Cami talked into going! She wants to see what all the noise is about.

As much as I’m psyched for Transformers, I’m afraid I’m falling behind on other movies I want to see equally as bad. A small indie theater in town just picked up the Irish musical Once, which I’ve been dying to see since I saw a trailer for it on IFC a month ago. Of course, there is still Sicko and Ratatouille to contend with. And these are all movies Cami wants to see, too. So it’s not like I can sneak out of the house under the guise of not wanting to waste her time.

I feel like I’m reaching for the low-hanging fruit by going to see Transformers first for the simple fact that it’s the movie that everyone is talking about. It’s like there’s this weird peer pressure to see it. If not peer pressure, at least some kind of need to prove we’re still tied to pop culture in some way. I feel guilty that we’re giving it priority when a movie like Once probably won’t be around for another two weeks.

But what can I say except “the squeaky wheel gets the grease?” Or, I suppose in this case, the movie with the most explosions and makes the most noise gets the grease?

At any rate, that’s pretty much all I’ve got. I should be back on Monday with a review of Transformers. See you then!